Plate Two, from The Analysis of Beauty

Plate Two, from The Analysis of Beauty is a significant print by the English artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), executed between 1756 and 1761. Executed in black ink on cream laid paper, the work utilized both etching and engraving techniques, characteristic of 18th-century publication prints. The medium's present condition is complex, as the sheet has split, with the left side laid down on a book cover and the right side separated into two parts.

This piece is directly tied to Hogarth’s seminal theoretical treatise, The Analysis of Beauty (1753), in which he formally argued that the serpentine line, or the “Line of Beauty,” was the essential source of aesthetic grace, movement, and vitality. The prints accompanying the text are not illustrations in the traditional sense, but complex diagrams and visual keys designed to explain the universal principles of beauty Hogarth espoused. Plate Two specifically organizes various figures and objects to demonstrate how curved, flowing lines create greater aesthetic appeal than static straight lines.

As a crucial document of 18th-century intellectual and visual culture in England, this work exemplifies Hogarth’s commitment to didactic art and theory. The print reflects the height of the Georgian period when printmaking served as a primary medium for disseminating philosophical and artistic ideas to a wide public. This important historical object resides in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. High-quality reproductions of these prints are frequently utilized in the public domain for research and educational purposes.